In the Era of Alternative Facts, Steve Ballmer Finds a Hunger for Real Data - Bloomberg

A different kind of inconvenient truth for the Trump administration

"Two decades ago, it would have been hard to imagine Ballmer and then-Netscape co-founder, now venture capitalist Marc Andreessen on the same side of any issue, but Andreessen is also funding an effort to increase government transparency and accountability by putting data first, Joe Lonsdale's OpenGov, which has raised more than $50 million.

"It's bipartisan," said Andreessen, whose eponymous firm along with Laurene Powell Jobs and other investors plowed $30 million into OpenGov earlier this month. Whether it's Republicans who gather data with an eye toward cutting costs or Democrats who use the information to demonstrate how well programs are working, the appetite is high for immediate and accurate information, he said. "Everyone wants the government to spend money more effectively."

In addition to USAFacts and OpenGov, Lonsdale is backing Socrata, which also has raised north of $50 million, and there are more modest efforts by Junar and Viderum Ltd."

In the Era of Alternative Facts, Steve Ballmer Finds a Hunger for Real Data - Bloomberg